bugs

I always figured when I started a compost pile that I would see a few animals, but I figured they would be earthworms for the most part, with maybe a few grubs and flying insects. (And maybe a basilisk or two. One never knows.)

Today when I was turning my compost pile, I uncovered a colony of six-legged critters with antennae and segmented bodies. I think they're ants, though I don't know enough about insects to say for certain. I would worry that they are termite larvae, but I didn't think termite larvae have legs. Whatever they were, they were colorless, I imagine because of the lack of sunlight at the bottom of a compost pile.

My compost pile contains the usual items: kitchen fruit and vegetable waste, rinsed-off eggshells, the occasional all-natural Christmas wreath, dead garden plants, dryer lint, a few sticks that have fallen there, and leaves. Lots of leaves. No meat, no dairy or anything else that screams, "Pests come here!"

The compost pile is above-ground, framed by wooden pallets, and gets turned at this moment about once every two weeks. Given its current state of decay, I expect the compost to be finished in another six to eight weeks.

Does anyone have any idea what these critters are doing in my compost? Are they a problem? And if they are a problem, what's an effective organic way to get rid of them? (I suppose it's possible they'll simply get cooked as I continue to stir, but the pile's hottest days should be over.)